"Obviously in terms of me personally it was good to get two goals but at the end of the day what's most important is the team," Fonte told Sky Sports.

"We managed to save one point, it's not what we wanted but at least it will minimise the damage."

After Fonte had given Southampton an early lead, Jos Hooiveld's own goal levelled the score before Richardson's strike and the 28-year-old believes that the Saints were unfortunate to concede on both occasions.

"I think we started well, in the first half it was comfortable in defence," he reflected. "But once again we conceded an own goal which is unfortunate.

"Then the second [goal] was against the current of the game, but we got back in the game and we have to take the positives."

Midfielder Adam Lallana, meanwhile, claimed that the manner in which Southampton came back to secure a point demonstrated the resilience of Adkins' team.

"We are a bit disappointed, obviously we were in front for quite a lot of the game but to come back in the last two minutes and salvage a point is a credit to the lads," he insisted.

"We never looked like we were going to finish it off but we got the point and it's better than nothing. It's a big learning curve. For a lot of us it's our first season in the top flight.

"It's where we want to be. We've got to learn fast, we've got to work hard to keep clean sheets because that's the only way we're going to get points."